PURPOSE To optimize the perceptibility of Haidinger brushes (HB) and to investigate its association with visual acuity and macular pigment density. METHODS In this prospective cross-sectional study, each subject underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) testing, funduscopy, and assessment of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) using the two-wavelength fundus autofluorescence method. Ha...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to measure the macular pigment optical density and study its spatial profile as well as identify its determinant factors in a Central European population. PATIENTS AND METHODS The macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and its distribution were assessed in 228 eyes of 129 subjects using fundus reflectometry with the Visucam 500 (Carl Zeiss...

The spatial density distribution of macular pigment in primate retinas was described by two-wavelength microdensitometry of retinal sections. The macular pigment is most dense along the path of the receptor axons in the center of the fovea. Another band of high density is present in the inner plexiform layer in many retinas. The density in both fiber layers declines to low, relatively constant ...

PURPOSE To measure the optical density of the crystalline lens and macular pigments in a group of patients with diabetes mellitus and compare the results with those in a group of control subjects. METHODS Color matches were performed using a Wright tristimulus colorimeter. The reference wavelength used was 490 nm, desaturated with 650 nm. Lens optical density was measured by mixing spectral p...

The presence of macular pigment in the human retina, other than as a postmortem artifact, was in dispute as late as the middle of the 20 century. Since then, the dispute has evaporated and the role of macular pigment in the health of the retina is rapidly gaining acceptance in the ophthalmic community. In this article, I will describe the composition and distribution of the pigment, its purport...

PURPOSE To describe the system for grading age-related macular degeneration from fundus photographs in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. This is a prospective multicenter cohort study of the course of age-related macular degeneration and a placebo-controlled clinical trial of the effect of high-dose vitamin and mineral supplements on development of advanced age-related macular degeneration. ...

Interocular differences in the optical density of macular pigment were examined. Foveal and parafoveal sensitivities to lights of 460 and 530 nm were measured by heterochromatic flicker photometry for both eyes of ten subjects. These two wavelengths represent the maximum and minimum absorbance for macular pigment. Taking the difference in log sensitivity to the 460 nm light for the fovea and pa...

Choroideremia is an incurable X-linked retinal degeneration caused by mutations in the gene encoding Rab escort protein-1. A group of clinically defined and genotyped patients were studied to determine: (1) the degree of rod and cone dysfunction and structural abnormality in the central retina and the level of macular pigment; and (2) the response of macular pigment and foveal vision to a 6 mon...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Lutein and zeaxanthin accumulate in retina (macular pigment). Their nutritional status can be assessed using dietary or biochemical markers and both have been associated with macular pigment optical density. We proposed to assess dietary and status markers of lutein and zeaxanthin in a group of healthy Spanish volunteers, considering the potential influence of age, gender and ...

The present concepts of the pathogenesis of AMD include cumulative light damage by oxidative processes in the macular photoreceptors as environmental co-factor for the development of AMD. The direct causative connection of this hypothesis has still to be established but wide circumstantial evidence from epidemiological and basic scientific investigations are strongly supportive. Macular pigment...